This publicly viewable platform replaces the Alpha drafting platform that has been viewable since mid 2011. ICD-11 Revision Topic Advisory Groups are using a separate drafting platform with greater functionality than the platform launched yesterday.

Interested stakeholders can register for increased access and to interact with the Beta drafting platform.

In terms of functionality, the Beta platform does not appear to incorporate any additional features over the Alpha.

In terms of population of content, some entities have text populated for Definitions, others are still waiting for provisional definitions. Some entities have very few “Content Model” parameters listed, others have the following: Parents; Definition; Synonyms;Exclusions; Narrower Terms; Causal Mechanisms; Body Site.

It’s not evident how many of the proposed 13 “Content Model” parameters that describe an ICD-11 entity term will eventually be populated for any given entity. The original list of 13 “Content Model” parameters has been modified since early 2011, but no new documentation has been publicly released that sets out the new parameters.

For the first time, experts in the public health community who work with patient diagnosis and treatment have an opportunity to contribute to the development of the next version of the ICD. This is WHO’s publication that ensures all aspects of the health community refer to diseases and health conditions in a consistent way.

WHO is calling on experts, health providers and stakeholders from around the world to participate in the 11th revision process. The final ICD-11 will be released in 2015.

With your help, this classification will be more comprehensive than ever before.

WHO seeks health experts’ input for 11th International Classification of Diseases

For the first time, experts in the public health community who work with patient diagnosis and treatment have an opportunity to contribute to the development of the next version of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), which is WHO’s publication that ensures all members of the health community refer to diseases and health conditions in a consistent way.

WHO/Jim Holmes

WHO is releasing the beta version of what will be ICD-11 on a wiki-type platform that allows stakeholder comments to be added after peer review. The final ICD-11 will be released in 2015.

WHO encourages anyone interested to comment to develop a more comprehensive classification.

Foundation for reliable health data

The ICD is the foundation for the identification of health trends and statistics globally. Receiving input from health experts will greatly improve the representation from current medical practice and create insight from a broader diversity of medicine.

“Literally this is what doctors use to diagnose a patient,” says Tevfik Bedirhan Ustun, coordinator in the Department of Health Statistics and Information Systems. “It is how we define the cause of death when a person dies. In research, it is how we classify health problems based on evidence.”

The ICD is the gold standard for defining and reporting diseases and health conditions. It allows the world to compare and share health information using a common language.

In addition to health providers, the ICD is a key tool used by epidemiologists to study disease patterns, insurers, national health programme managers, data collection specialists, and others who track global health progress and how health resources are spent.

ICD-11 innovations

Using advances in information technology, this ICD revision will allow users to collect data on cause of death, advances in science and medicine, emerging diseases and health conditions, and compare information across the globe with more ease and diversity in the service of public health and clinical reporting.

Some of the key new features of the 11th version will include:

• a new chapter on traditional medicine, which constitutes a significant part of health care in many parts of the world;
• it will be ready to use with electronic health records and applications;
• it will updated through the development phase to reflect new knowledge as it is added to the classification; and
• it will be produced in multiple languages through the development phase.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) in a maiden initiative has invited experts and users to contribute online to the development of its next version of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) capturing mortality and morbidity data.

The world’s standard tool provides a picture of the general health of countries and populations and its 11th version is now being developed through an innovative, collaborative process to be released in 2015.

“This is for the first time WHO is calling on experts and users to participate in the revision process through a web-based platform. The outcome will be a classification that is based on user input and needs,” a WHO official said.

WHO will soon be releasing the beta version of what will be ICD-11 on a wiki-type platform that allows stakeholder comments to be added after peer review.

All Member States are expected to use the most current version of the ICD for reporting death and disease statistics (according to the WHO Nomenclature Regulations adopted by the World Health Assembly in 1967), the official added.

Regarding the steps for participating, he elaborated that experts and stakeholders will have to register for a participant account on the web portal which will be open for comments over the next three years and accepted changes will be reflected immediately.

Some of the key new features of the 11th version will include a new chapter on traditional medicine, which constitutes a significant part of health care in many parts of the world and ready to use with electronic health records and applications.

The ICD is translated into 43 languages and is used by all 117 member countries. The ICD holds importance as it provides a common language for reporting and monitoring diseases. This allows the world to compare and share data in a consistent and standard way – between hospitals, regions and countries and over periods of time. It facilitates the collection and storage of data for analysis and evidence-based decision-making, the official said.